Guerra, who owns the city restaurants Spoleto, Pizzeria Paradiso and Mama Iguana's, said Thursday morning he believes a lightning strike may have caused the four-alarm blaze, which drew a response from a dozen area fire departments. No residents were injured in the fire; one Northampton firefighter sustained a minor injury to his hand while battling the blaze.

A friend who was at the home to dog-sit heard lightning strike close to the home around 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Guerra said. After the strike, Guerra said, the woman smelled a sulfur-like scent.

Nobody was home by that time, Guerra said, save for the family dog — Peaches — who escaped unhurt. Guerra said he and his family were out of town visiting his father; he learned via a phone call at 4 a.m. that his house was burning.

Guerra lived at the home with his wife, Maria Koziol Guerra, and three children.

Despite "losing everything" in the blaze — Guerra said he was left with a t-shirt, a pair of shorts and his sneakers — he said: "This is nothing. It's just a house. Everybody is safe."

Northampton Fire Chief Brian Duggan said the fire destroyed the 6,500-square-foot home, causing an estimated $2 million in damage. The glow from the blaze could be seen from miles away, and the fate of the home was evident as soon as crews arrived on scene.

"We can see flames in the distance and we're quite a ways out," a firefighter reported while en route to the scene.

The home, at 675 North Farms Rd., is located in a wooded section of Northampton just north of the Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area, near the Williamsburg line.

With no hydrants in the immediate vicinity of the home, firefighters struggled to knock down the blaze. Duggan said the initial attack on fire involved over a mile of hose running uphill. When that approached failed to deliver enough water pressure, firefighters resorted to tankers and pumpers. Three pumpers were staged along the three-quarter-mile driveway running from North Farms Road to the home, Duggan said.

Reporters were not allowed to walk up the driveway to view the home, which was not visible from North Farms Road. A neighbor, Athleen Zimmermann, described the scene: "It's like a war zone," she said, adding that the house is leveled, with only the chimney and a fireplace left standing.

A Williamsburg town official said that while the street address — 675 North Farms Road — is in Northampton, the parcels the home occupies are listed as 59-61 North Farms Road in Williamsburg. Those parcels, including land and buildings, were most recently assessed at $496,700 and $34,900.